Disclaimer - The turtles are here, they're finally really here! I'm sure you will all recognize parts of this from Movie One. However, did any of you wonder what happened before the turtles, April, and Danny, tucked themselves into bed, or how it is that Danny could slip out of the lair undetected and without any one the wiser? I mean, he's surrounded by four trained and proximity-sensitive ninja, for cry'n out loud! Anyway, I tried to research things, so I hope I have it right, for what little I've used from the movie.

I've also decided to do an epilogue. I would have to, otherwise I'd have a hoard of fan fiction readers ready to tar and feather me – even though we all know who my OC is! Anyway, thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you feel led to, and if there are any discrepancies as far as how this correlates with the first movie, blame my eagerness to tag an end to this missive. Oh, and I'd be grateful if you'd point out where, too.

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Chapter 5 – The Heroes Return

Six 'people' huddled deep below the New York City landscape. A seventh took refuge above ground in an old, beat-up truck along the street, his sudden claustrophobia forcing the issue. After being gone for almost three days, he and the others had arrived back in the city only an hour earlier and all were quite tired from their long drive from the countryside. Currently, the man slept, although his body was still trying to get comfortable within the limited confines of the truck cab. He jerked his legs once in subconscious frustration, rearranged his torso a bit more and scrunched his shoulders, then finally settled down.

Meanwhile, deep inside the sewers through a twisted maze of tunnels and culverts, someone else was quite uncomfortable, as well.

"Man, I sure wish we had time to get a pizza, I'm half starved!" whined Mike as he rubbed his complaining stomach.

"Yeah, sorry about not putting away the leftovers," remarked Danny, "But the fridge didn't look like it worked anymore." He smiled a little as he recalled the sounds of disgust and the death dirge the turtles had hummed earlier. It was rather humorous, actually, with the way they had paid their last respects to the pizza remains, the few slices nothing more than a science project, now. The boy glanced over at the disabled appliance, where it rested ungainly on its side, useless, now, for keeping anything cold. To the boy, it was obvious that a battle had taken place in the lair, with most of the furniture and the few appliances wrecked beyond fixing.

"That's all right, Danny," Leo remarked, placing a comforting hand on the teenager's shoulder, "We're only going to stay a few hours and then head out to see if we can find our father."

Earlier, after discovering the teenager hiding in a utility cabinet, they had soon gained his trust. Although they told him about their father getting abducted, no one yet had told the boy what Splinter was. Consequently, with Leo talking about going out and finding him later, it was only natural for the young man to ask, "So, there're five of you, then?"

"Five of us?" Donnie asked as he stepped towards the boy, a puzzled look crossing his face.

"Yeah, Leo just said you have to go look for your father, so that makes five mutant turtles, right?" the boy replied.

"Ah, Danny…" Mike quirked his head, "Our father's not like us."

"He's…not?" Dan looked completely confused, "Then…ah…what is he? Human?"

"No, but, well," Mike began to say, but then Leonardo interrupted him, standing taller as he explained proudly, "Splinter's our sensei, and he trained us in the ancient art of ninjitsu. He's like a father to us because he raised us. Because of Splinter, we've been able to…"

Raphael rolled his eyes as he interrupted Leo's long-winded monologue, "He's a rat, kid, but a very special rat, kinda like us, but only…a rat," and then he twirled one of his sais in agitation and effortlessly slipped it into its sheath on his belt. "And when we do find out who took 'em from us, they're gonna wish they'd nevah been born, too!" Leo glared at Raphael indignantly, not at all pleased with his brother for interrupting him.

As Danny mentally absorbed this new bit of information, his mind went back to the warehouse, where he had seen such a creature as Raph had described. While the boy considered this, Leo softly admonished Raphael, placing a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder, "Raph, we need to be more concerned with just getting Splinter rescued."

Gruffly shrugging his brother's hand away, "Look, Leo, you can go play girl scout if you want to, but I'm playing 'revenge of the ninja' just as soon as we get Splintah back," Raph declared boldly, barely holding back a snarl at the mere thought of giving pay-back to the fools who dared take his father.

"I want rebuttal, too, Raph, but first…Splinter's safety is more important." Leo countered seriously, and before his brother could argue with him, he added, "And then you and the rest of us can pound the shell out of them, okay?"

Raph studied Leonardo for only a moment and then he gave one of his rarely seen smiles as he agreed, "Ya gotta deal, Leo. You, me, Donnie, and Mike, we'll make sushi outta all of 'em." All four brothers then gave an excited high-three smack of their hands, laughing and chuckling over their anticipated battle with the Foot.

Danny, however, absentmindedly looked at the drawing in his hand that April had given to him earlier. It showed Leonardo sleeping in a chair, somewhere in a house or a room, though he couldn't tell for sure. The boy suddenly folded it and shoved the drawing into his right, back pocket. His new friendship with these strange turtles and the kindness April had shown to him caused the boy to re-think his choices of late. It was true that he and his father were having relational problems, but it wasn't always like that. Dan could remember happier times, times when his mother was still alive, times when he was truly part of a family. If he'd had siblings, maybe he might not have felt so alone or neglected.

However, the fact was, Dan was an only child and a motherless one at that. It was why he felt so close to April; she seemed to fill that void where he needed a woman's touch, a motherly influence. Worse still, where his father's work had become stressful and demanding more time, Dan felt as if he were drifting along without any purpose or destination. Initially, the Foot seemed to have provided him with one – until recently, that is.

Now, however, as he looked around and saw the camaraderie of his new friends, knowing that it was because of him April had lost her home, Danny began to feel regret for his actions. He began to question a great many things.

What was he to do, now?

"Well, guys," April remarked as she stretched and yawned, "I don't know about you, but I'm tired. That was a long drive and we've have a lot to do come morning."

"You think Casey'll be all right up there in the truck, April?" Leo asked her in genuine concern, looking upwards, as if he could see right through the pipes and concrete where Casey slept.

"Leo, I'd be more worried 'bout anyone bugging him," Raph laughed, "That guy can take care of 'emself, believe me."

"Yeah," Leo shrugged, thinking back to their fight against the Foot, down in April's second-hand shop days earlier, "I guess you're right."

After a while, all six reclined throughout the lair, with April taking the couch per Leonard's insistence. The rest of them took what blankets were available and spread them along the hard, concrete floor. A wild collection of blankets and comforters, obvious dumpster-rescues by the turtles, provided the cushioning – and the warmth. After a while, it appeared as if all inhabitants of the lair had drifted off to sleep.

An hour later, Danny startled awake. He had just had a nightmare and now his breathing came in quick and labored gasps as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. As perspiration coated his skin, he finally remembered where he was and then reflected upon the dream he'd just woken up from. Words from Shredder and that of the rat, Splinter, echoed conflictingly in his mind. He was in a quandary, not knowing what to do, yet for some reason the need to visit the rat, Splinter, called out to him. In just a moment's thought, he made a decision.

When the rising snores of sleeping reptiles and one human assured him of their slumber, Danny quietly and noiselessly stood up from his makeshift pallet of blankets. Stepping carefully in-between Donatello and Raphael, he slipped out of the lair undetected.

Or, so he thought.

Leo opened one eye, carefully watching Danny as the boy stepped between Don and Raph. He warily observed as the retreating youth crept out into the sewer tunnel beyond the doorway. He waited for a moment, to be certain that the boy would not double back. When he was sure that Dan had indeed left and would not be returning any time soon, the turtle sighed in relief and then slowly sat up. He quietly nudged Raphael in front of him and said, "He's gone."

"'Bout time," Raph grumped quietly and sat up, as well, with Mike and Don doing the same.

Leo looked over at April and noted that she was the only one unaware that Danny had left. She was also the only one of the five who had actually fallen asleep. "We need to wake her," he stated softly.

"Ah, Leo, can't we just let her sleep a while longer?" Mike gushed, looking affectionately at the reporter, as he smiled, "She looks so cute that way." He cooed as he grinned, appreciating the relaxed and peaceful expression on April's face, "I really do wish we could keep her, just so …" He suddenly felt a slap alongside his head as Raph smacked him. "Ow, what was that for?" he whined as he rubbed his head, glaring indignantly back to his red-banded brother.

"You know, Mike, you should get yourself a cat or something. Leave the humans alone, they don't like being kept." Raphael chuckled.

"Hey, if I was rich enough, she wouldn't mind," Mike challenged lightly, sniggering in amusement.

"Yeah, as if you could ever be rich!" Donnie laughed. "That's a nice pipedream, though," he added somewhat wistfully.

"Okay, guys, knock it off," Leo admonished, getting their attention back to their current task, "we need to wake April and get her some place safe and then wait until the Foot decides to make an appearance."

"How d'ya know that'll happen, Leo?" Raph asked irritably as he stood up. Taking up his blankets he then began to fold them, commenting as he did, "Fer all ya know, Danny might just go home."

"I heard him talk in his dream, Raph," Leo explained, doing likewise with his own bedding, "Ever since last night around that campfire, whatever it was that all of us gained from that experience of mentally connecting with Splinter, I was able to use it to sense Danny's dreams tonight. It was weird, but I distinctly heard things that only our father would say. There was another voice I didn't recognize, but the other one, the syntax was too similar for it to be a coincidence, which means Danny knows where Splinter is –which means he knows where the Foot headquarters is located."

"Then why don't we follow him, LEO?" Raph snarled, "It makes no sense staying here if we can get ta Splintah by trailing the kid."

"Yeah!" Mike agreed, fondling one of his chucks in anticipation.

Leo shook his head, "Raph, Mikey, we stand a better chance of defending ourselves here in our own lair. If we go gallivanting off on a rescue mission, we'd just risk alerting the Foot. They could kill Splinter before we'd even get through the front door. Plus, with April here, I just don't want to leave her alone, and we need all of our skills to beat these guys." He sighed, "Besides, what are the chances that these ninja are staking out our place as we speak? If they attack us here, then the more we dispatch, the less we have to bother with elsewhere."

The other three turtles paused and looked warily towards the front door of the lair. They hadn't fixed the door, yet, and, so, they had no other choice but to leave it unbarred. All three seemed to stop breathing, as well, trying to listen for any unusual sounds, their concerns now for the safety of their immediate surroundings.

Satisfied that, for now, the sewers were safe, Raph turned back around to face his brother, nodding as he said, "Okay, Leo, we wait…just like you suggested. But," he glared at his brother, pointing a finger for emphasis, "only until morning. If we don't get any action by then, we book outta here and find them!" Don and Mike both nodded in complete agreement, this time.

Leo nodded, "Agreed!"

Where upon, Donnie exclaimed, "I just love diplomacy, don't you, Mike?" he grinned as he looked over at his younger brother.

Mike slapped Don hard on the shell and chuckled, "Yep, ninja style debating, the only way to run a clan."

Leo chuckled in response and then went about waking April. Once she was awake, he and his brothers began to prepare and plan to keep her safe and for what they feared would be the biggest battle of their lives.

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Across the city, a rat waited, chained to a fence within a non-descript warehouse. He meditated and tried to encourage one young woman to persevere. He knew that Cassandra was being tortured again, one of many such times, in fact, over the past few days. He could tell she was trying to be strong, but in the end, the poor girl could do little else but scream out in agony. Just the same, he realized that she would be beyond his reach when his sons finally did come for him.

Nevertheless, Splinter knew that one day her path would indeed cross with those of his sons', although he couldn't say for sure if he would still be alive to see it. That was one thing his dream, or his premonition, couldn't tell him. It saddened him, actually, as he would have liked to have talked with her again.

In either event, Splinter kept his mind as connected to the girl as was possible, yet it was becoming increasingly difficult with the horrific treatment the Doctor implemented against her. Still, the rat had to admire the young woman's tenacity, her talent in the ninja arts as strong as his sons training was, with the depth of her meditation keen. Splinter knew, then, that someone had trained Cassandra well. It had piqued his curiosity as to who had done the deed, his mind considering the Shredder once again

Now, as he waited, and as he sensed an end to his imprisonment, he felt a brief disturbance, as if someone was coming. He reached out with his mind and touched one that was very confused and in great conflict. A moment later, a teenage boy - red haired, dirty, and very troubled, slipped cautiously into view. Around his head, he wore a red bandanna with a kanji inscription written along the front and which looked all too familiar to the rat.

Nevertheless, Splinter nodded his head in welcome; it was the same young man that he had seen only days earlier, just before Cassandra had been thrown into the cell. The rat also sensed that the teenager had reconsidered his past choices, too. What bolstered Splinter's resolve far more, though, was that he had sensed the reason why the boy had a sudden change of heart. Somewhere, out in the city, the lad had met some new friends, friends that had influenced him and were now preparing to engage an enemy in their quest to rescue their father.

Splinter's heart warmed considerably

As the rat prepared to speak with the youth and to find out where he had been, Splinter knew that his sons had finally returned, stronger in their brotherhood, and far more united than ever before.

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